First blood to Freeland in ACB play-offs

Photo by Karl Southern ©

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It was a good Saturday night for Joel Freeland in the Battle of the British Bigs - his Gran Canaria team pulled off a shock 96-90 overtime road win in Malaga against Robert Archibald's Unicaja.

Catch the highlights at: http://acbtv.acb.com/video/1839

Both British players pulled down 4 rebounds each but Freeland scored 10 points to Arch's 5. Omar Cook led the game scoring with 25 points for Unicaja but Gran Canaria had five players who put up double digits including Melvin Sanders with 17 points.

The action now moves to the Canary Islands on Tuesday where it will be a case of win or go home for Archibald and Malaga.

Meanwhile, the domestic season is over for Andrew Betts as his team Aris were swept 3-0 by Panathinaikos in the semi-finals of the Greek League play-offs last night. Betts scored 6 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in 20 minutes as Aris ran the Euroleague Champions close before losing 71-69.

Eurobasket update - Still no UK TV deal

With Eurobasket 2009 now less than four months away Britain disappointingly, but not surprisingly, is the only one of the sixteen countries competing without a broadcast partner.

FIBA Europe have struck deals with television companies in 41 countries in Europe and residents of a further 65 countries around the world will be able to watch the tournament but at the present time we are facing a blackout in the UK.

This is the premier sports event in Europe this year, the British team qualified in style and could have three NBA players on their roster.

Just what will it take for British broadcasters to wake up and smell the coffee!

Betts to battle against Euro champs

GB centre Andy Betts and his Aris Thessaloniki teammates take on recently crowned Euroleague Champions Panathinaikos tomorrow night in Game 2 of the A1 Semi-Finals. Aris were squeezed out 84-80 in Game 1 in Athens on Saturday night with Betts scoring six points and grabbing seven rebounds off the bench.

The back injury that kept Betts out of most of GB's Eurobasket qualifiers last summer delayed him signing a deal this season but he has made up for lost time inspiring Aris to a 10-3 run since joining in January.

They don't come any tougher than the Greens of Athens though and if Betts and Aris are to stop the current Greek Champions from retaining their seventh successive title, they must make home advantage count in front of their boisterous crowd at the Alexandreoi.

Gordon's stellar play-off form raises doubts

Ben Gordon's sensational play-off form, which saw him average over 24 points per game as Chicago Bulls took NBA Champions Boston Celtics all the way to Game 7 in the first round, has raised more questions than answers regarding his contract situation. That unfortunately is bad news for team GB.

Gordon has always said that he'll only play for GB when his long-term future is resolved. The word was that he was likely to be on his way out of Chicago this Summer who are overloaded with options in the back-court. With Gordon proving to be the main man for the Bulls post-season though including a game saving three in Game 4, the management at the United Centre will be looking to do all they can to keep him.

Bulls have little room to manoeuvre under the salary cap and if they want to improve and keep Gordon it may take some creative trading. The problem is that with Gordon out-of-contract and now rightly on the look-out for the big deal of his career, negotiations are likely to be drawn out.

The longer Gordon goes without securing that big contract in Chicago or elsewhere then the chances of him suiting up for GB in Poland in September diminish.

Arch and Freeland to go head-to-head in ACB play-offs

Unicaja Malaga secured 3rd place in the ACB yesterday with a 79-73 victory over Bruesa. The win took Malaga to a 24-8 record and sets up a mouth-watering quarter-final match-up between two of GB's leading Centres: Robert Archibald of Malaga and Joel Freeland of Gran Canaria.

Arch bagged 8 points and 7 rebounds off the bench for Malaga but it was Freeland who took the plaudits on the final day of the Spanish regular season, leading Gran Canaria with 15 points and 7 rebounds in their 74-71 win against Valencia.

In their regular season clashes it has been honours even between the two teams with Gran Canaria winning 74-68 on their home court back in November before Malaga too revenge in March with a 91-78 victory in the return fixture.

Malaga have the psychological advantage though after their Copa Del Rey 79-69 victory quarter-final over the Canary Islanders in February. Neither Brit shone on that occasion with Freeland only contributing 3 points and Archibald fouling out after just 11 minutes on court.

Expectations for both players will be much higher when the three game series starts in Malaga on Saturday (16 May), with bragging rights at the GB Training Camp as well as semi-final place at stake.

Eurobasket on Channel 4?

The odds on Channel 4 picking up the rights to Eurobasket must be drastically cut now that Martin Henlan is heading up their 4Sport project.

4Sport's remit is to bring minority sports that can deliver audiences to Channel 4's mobile, web and television platforms.

With Channel 4 under funding pressure it was rumoured that they may drop their sports coverage altogether. It was announced this week that their Head of Sport Andrew Thompson has stepped down and that they may have to forfeit their one marquee holding - Horse Racing - unless that sport increases its contribution to production costs.

Henlan's role suggests that Channel 4 Sport is not dead yet and that the channel is returning to its innovative roots - that for example first brought regular basketball coverage to British screens back in the early 1980s.

Former England international Henlan has turned to basketball for his first commission - highlights of the British Women's relegation game against Finland at Worcester.

It looks as if British Basketball has lucked in once again - with our sport's leading media champion landing an influential role at a major British television channel at exactly the right time.

Women fly past Finns

Whilst this blog will unashamedly focus on the Men's team, January is all about the Women and their fight to stay in Division A. Coach Mark Clark's team got off to the best possible start today with a gutsy 63-61 win in Finland.

Leading guard Kirsty Lavin returned to the GB line-up, after missing the 2008 international season through injury but the star performers were the post players: Kim Butler (17 points, 7 points and 4 assists), Sarah McKay (12 points and 6 rebounds) and Rosalee Mason who posted a double-double (10 points and 12 rebounds).

Britain now head into three consecutive home games, starting with Bosnia in Sheffield on Wednesday 7 January. If GB can win that one and then beat Romania in Nottingham (Saturday 10 January) and the return against Finland (at Worcester on Tuesday 13 January), then Division A status will be retained before the final two road games. Two out of the four teams in the group will be relegated to Division B.

Although relegation will not necessarily result in FIBA excluding the British team from automatic qualification as hosts for London 2012 (FIBA has been deliberately ambiguous in stating the standards that both British teams must reach to claim those spots – and it is unlikely that either team would be denied) it will definitely reduce the Women's share of the £8 million plus funding dedicated to performance basketball by UK Sport.

So arguably these are the most important games in British Women basketball's history, as they will ensure that the Women's team are fully funded up to the London Games.

Ticket details for the home games can be found at: http://www.basketballgb.com/index.php?go=teams/tickets